Academic Interests

My research comprises two broad themes: creative writing and the pedagogy of writing skills. As a creative writer, my fiction, articles and poems are published and broadcast widely. Recently I was featured poet in the radical journal Erbacce (www.erbacce.com). My work has also been broadcast on BBC radio. As a pedagogical researcher, my work has been published by the Royal Literary Fund and I have twice been nominated for a National Teaching Fellowship. I have contributed to How to Write Fiction (and think about it) (ed. Robert Graham, Palgrave 2007) and Everything You Need to Know About Creative Writing (but knowing isn't everything) (ed. Heather Leach and Robert Graham, Continuum 2007). Most recently, I published an article in the journal Writing in Education which gives an account of the short fiction module I have designed and implemented here at Salford.

Current research projects include the completion of my doctorate, which seeks to explore the relationship between fiction/biography/autobiography via the production of a hybrid prose work. I am also English lead for the HEFCE-funded ‘Writing Lives Project’, which aims to support about community cohesion via the provision of creative writing workshops to local residents. Most recently I have been awarded Academic Enterprise funding to explore the pedagogy of creative writing in schools. Forthcoming publications include the novel produced for my PhD, and a substantial co-authored text on creative nonfiction.

Teaching

Teaching commitments include ’Introduction to Creative Writing’ at Level 1, ‘Writing Short Fiction’, and ‘Life Writing’ at Level 2, and ‘Writing Fiction: Innovation and Experiment’ at Level 3. I also contribute lectures to the Level 1 modules ‘Narrative, Fiction and the Novel’, and ‘Introduction to Poetry’. With colleagues I am preparing material for the new MA 'Creative Writing: Innovation and Experiment' which launches September 2008.

My other major academic role is as Admissions Tutor for English. This involves a commitment to outreach activities in schools and colleges, and an active engagement with student recruitment.

Teaching the Changing Story, Writing in Education (Issue 43, 2007)

'Imperium', 'Black bird', 'Cathederal Notes', 'Penance', 'Lying On Air in Holloway', 'Transport', 'Somewhere in the Air', 'Last Days' and 'The Rat Under the Pampas' in Erbacce magazine eds Corkish and Taylor (2007)

'Gender', Everything You Need to Know About Creative Writing (but knowing isn't everything), eds Heather Leach and Robert Graham (Continuum, 2007)

‘Looking for the Drama’, How to Write Fiction (and think about it), ed. Robert Graham (Palgrave, 2006)

'Setting Up A Writing Centre' pp 69-76 in Writing Matters, the Royal Literary Fund Report on Student Writing in Higher Education, Royal Literary Fund (2006)